For the third year in a row, the Steelers have retained the entirety of GM Omar Khan’s draft class. This year’s marked the most surprising yet, though like last year, it most likely comes with at least one caveat. A year ago, the Steelers retained two of their rookie draft picks by placing them on the Reserve/Injured List. Neither ever came off the list, and one has since retired due to injury.
That player, Ryan Watts, remains the only Khan draft pick who is not currently with the Steelers. Among their 21 selections over the past three classes, 20 are on the 53-man roster or IR. Currently, only one is on IR—2023 seventh-round CB Cory Trice Jr., who has a return designation.
Omar Khan and the Steelers selected seven players in their 2025 NFL Draft class, all of whom are on the 53-man roster. There is speculation that two—sixth-round QB Will Howard and seventh-round CB Donte Kent—will go on IR. Either or both could potentially remain there all season, as Lee did in 2024 despite a relatively minor injury.
With no second-round pick and two seventh-round picks, the fact that the Steelers retained all of their selections this year is even more notable. Under Khan’s predecessor, Kevin Colbert, they never retained all draft picks on the active or reserve rosters. In one season, 2020, they retained everyone when including the practice squad, briefly, and one, they all dressed for a game. To the best of my knowledge, that was a first in franchise history.
The top half of the Steelers’ rookie class figures to be a significant group for the team this year, including first-round draft pick DL Derrick Harmon as a starter. Although he might miss some games, he should be good to go sooner rather than later. Third-round RB Kaleb Johnson will get a lot of burn out of the backfield, as well. Both fourth-round OLB Jack Sawyer and fifth-round DL Yahya Black should hold significant rotational roles. With injuries at their respective positions, both could carve out playing time in Week 1.
The back end of the Steelers’ 2025 draft class offers less certainty, though, as yet, all of Khan’s draft picks figure to be safe. Seventh-round ILB Carson Bruener appears to have beaten out veteran Mark Robinson for a special teams role. Although Howard is on the roster, the team currently has four quarterbacks. If they don’t trade Skylar Thompson soon, they may put Howard on IR. With Kent having missed most of training camp and all of the preseason, he seemed destined for a “redshirt” year.
Lest we forget, all of Omar Khan’s healthy 2023 and 2024 draft classes are still with the Steelers, as well. At least, they are as of this writing, though that could change as soon as later today. Arguably the most vulnerable among them is 2024 sixth-round DL Logan Lee, one of eight DL on the roster. He and Esezi Otomewo figure to be at the end of the depth chart, and one will surely be released at some point.
The rest of the group looks rather good. Khan and the Steelers found numerous starters from the previous two draft classes, namely Broderick Jones, Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier, Mason McCormick, Joey Porter Jr., Keeanu Benton, Payton Wilson, and, so it appears, Roman Wilson. Darnell Washington and Nick Herbig also have considerable roles on the offense and defense, respectively. While Trice is injured, Spencer Anderson is a valued and versatile reserve with starting experience.
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